ISLAMABAD: The Sindh provincial government on Monday announced compensation for victims of a deadly fire at a major shopping plaza in Karachi, saying 15 people were confirmed dead while 65 were reported missing as recovery operations continued at the site.

The blaze broke out late Saturday at Gul Plaza in Karachi’s Saddar business district and spread rapidly through multiple floors, trapping shoppers and workers inside the densely packed building. 15 deaths have been confirmed so far, including a firefighter, while debris removal and search operations remain underway, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah told reporters on Monday afternoon. 

Deadly fires in commercial buildings are a recurring problem in Karachi, a city of more than 20 million people, where overcrowding, outdated infrastructure and weak enforcement of fire safety regulations have repeatedly resulted in mass casualties and heavy economic losses.

Announcing relief measures, Shah said the provincial government would provide Rs10 million ($36,000) in compensation to the family of each person killed in the fire, which destroyed over 1,200 shops in the plaza. 

“On behalf of the government of Sindh, we will give one crore rupees to every person who has lost his life,” Shah said at a press conference, adding that payments would begin once documentation was completed.

Shah said one of the15 victims was a firefighter he identified by his first name, Furqan, who died while battling the blaze, noting that Furqan’s father had also been killed in the line of duty years earlier. Shah said the Karachi mayor had been directed to ensure care for the firefighter’s family.

The chief minister also announced the formation of a joint committee involving provincial officials and the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) to assess losses and oversee rehabilitation of affected traders. He said temporary arrangements were being explored to relocate 1,000 to 1,200 shops so businesses could resume operations as quickly as possible.

Citing past precedents such as the Bolton Market arson and Cooperative Market fire, Shah said similar compensation and recovery mechanisms had helped traders rebuild their livelihoods and would guide the current response.

Karachi has previously suffered devastating commercial fires that prompted large-scale compensation and rehabilitation efforts. 

In 2009, a massive arson attack at Bolton Market, one of the city’s oldest wholesale hubs, destroyed hundreds of shops and disrupted supply chains across the city. The federal and Sindh governments later approved special relief packages that funded compensation, reconstruction and the rebuilding of fire-hit markets. More recently, fires at the Cooperative Market and Victoria Building areas again wiped out clusters of small traders, leading authorities to reuse leftover funds from earlier relief schemes to compensate affected businesses. Officials say these precedents have shaped the province’s current approach to combining government support with trader-led assessments to restore livelihoods after major disasters.

KCCI said on Sunday preliminary assessments showed more than 1,000 small and medium-sized businesses were completely destroyed in the latest fire, leaving thousands of families without incomes. Traders have urged both provincial and federal authorities to announce a comprehensive rehabilitation package.

Authorities have ordered a formal inquiry into the incident, with Shah stressing that the investigation would focus on identifying systemic failures rather than assigning blame.

He said a fire safety audit covering 145 buildings, conducted in 2024, would now be enforced immediately, alongside mandatory installation of fire alarms in commercial markets across the city.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also offered full federal support, calling for a “coordinated and effective system” to control fires quickly in densely populated urban areas and prevent similar tragedies in the future.

Battling large fires in Karachi’s congested commercial districts remains notoriously difficult. Many markets and plazas are built with narrow access points, encroachments and illegal extensions that block fire tenders, while buildings often lack functioning fire exits, alarms or sprinkler systems. 

Although safety regulations exist, inspections are sporadic and penalties rarely enforced, allowing hazardous wiring and flammable materials to go unchecked — conditions that enable fires to spread rapidly and magnify human and economic losses.